Ailiailia wrote:You rather contradict yourself there. The US government space program only had one rival (the Soviet program). If that constitutes useful competition, how is the Airbus/Boeing competition different?
We tried (although never manned flight...we did satellites) until packing up after Black Arrow...which put Prospero into orbit. Our only all British attempt. After that it finally dawned on the powers that be that the UK was just never going to compete on its own (after Blue Streak and Black Knight failed). Really we should have understood that in 1959 when we set up our own programme...requiring close work with NASA anyway. We needed to collaborate.
Then ESA came along.